i can't express how much i loved this graphic novel... it almost made me cry 🥺
at the start of the story until the middle i felt creeped out like who tf this family is that Manu had met, but at the end... god 🥺
literally nothing i hadn't liked about this novel. i loved the art, i loved the characters, i loved the main thing behind the story and what it teaches us about our fears and anxieties.
definitely, 100% recommending this to those who are struggling with depression and anxiety, even breakup. i can't thank the universe enough for bringing this novel into my tbr 🖤

This is still a meaty drama, however obvious and predictable a certain aspect of the plot might be. It's a story that demands as little foreknowledge as possible, so I'll let it rest that a teacher in his thirties gets passed over in promotion for a greater role at his school, and so stumbles into becoming unpaid private tutor to a disparate bunch of kids, stuck with disabled siblings and an ugly hotel-running mother. When the obvious happens, it raises the obvious question in the reader's mind – did the creators design to make it so bloody obvious? Or did they think they had both the rug under us and some good carpet-pulling muscles, because they didn't.

But then...

But then what they bloody well do know is how to shift everything into a completely unexpected realm, a kind of Lynchian oddity existence. And it's this disarming aspect that really gave a kick to my thinking about this book. It was fine as it was – really good, if safe, visual design, strong and clear story-telling – but once we start to see what it is that drives the story everything feels the recipient of a marked improvement. So much so that I could scoff at the end about what it was ultimately about – the first world problems, rich white guy issues et al – but I could not at all scoff at how expertly they were conveyed. Disarming, intriguing – this is definitely in the top two of the May 2021 Europe Comics review copies.

At first this felt like men’s rights propaganda, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It ended up being a look at our deepest fears and insecurities and where they might have stemmed from. Beautiful art, compelling story. I look forward to reading more from this author!

I was ambivalent about picking up a book that uses "Gender Parity" in it's description. The actual cover which also says "A man who wants to be the hero of a story in which he is the victim."
The pairing together invokes a feeling of dread in me, making me think of types of people here in the United States (typically white men) who complain about any attempts towards Gender and Racial Equality.

So I looked further into this book, and chose to give it more of a chance when I saw that Lou Lubie was not a man. Therefore at least lessening the chance of me seeing a similar narrative to the one above.

I was ambivalent for probably the first half of this book, but I am honestly so happy that I gave it a chance.


This is an honestly beautiful and heartfelt narrative about fear, and how it will consume us if we let it.

I would actively recommend this book.